Signage from the Michigan Adopt-a-Highway program designates a section of M-28 as having been adopted by a specific organization. (Journal file photo)

MARQUETTE — Motorists in the Upper Peninsula will likely encounter people wearing yellow safety vests working along state trunklines and other roadways on Saturday.

But don’t look for paving equipment, huge dump trucks or similar rigs. That’s because the workers are associated with the Michigan Department of Transportation’s Adopt-a-Highway program, where volunteer groups — everyone from families to civic organizations to workplace coteries — agree to pick up refuse several times a year along a specific stretch of highway, said Dan Weingarten, MDOT Superior Region communications representative.

“Statewide, 36,000 bags of trash were picked up last year,” he said. “Tons and tons of trash.”

MDOT, which initiated the program in 1990, will provide groups with safety vests and trash bags. M-28, M-35, M-553 and U.S. 41 are among the local roads involved.

“We pick up the trash and haul it away,” he said. “It’s a free program.”

The groups gather three times a year to gather trash. In the Upper Peninsula, it’s May, July and September. Statewide, there are 2,600 groups involved, covering 6,000 miles of highway.

“Slow down when you see Adopt-a-Highway workers,” Weingarten said. “Keep an eye out for those yellow vests.”

According to an MDOT press release, highway sections are still available for adoption. Groups are asked to adopt a section for at least two years.

AAH signs bearing a group’s name are posted along the stretch of adopted highway. Go to www.Michigan.gov/AdoptAHighway for more information.